J. Sens. Actuator Netw., Volume 8, Issue 1 (March 2019) – 18 articles

The Internet of things requires long-life wireless sensor nodes powered by the harvested energy from environments. This paper proposes a nonlinear electromagnetic energy harvesting system which may be used to construct fully self-powered wireless sensor nodes. Based on a nonlinear electromagnetic energy harvester (EMEH) with high output voltage, the model of a nonlinear interface circuit is derived and a power management circuit (PMC) is designed. The proposed PMC uses a buck–boost direct current-direct current (DC–DC) converter to match the load resistance of the nonlinear interface circuit. It includes two open-loop branches, which is beneficial to the optimization of the impedance matching. The circuit is able to work even if the stored energy is completely drained. The energy harvesting system successfully powered a wireless sensor node. Experimental results show that, under base excitations of 0.3 g and 0.4 g (where 1 g = 9.8 m·s⁻²) at 8 Hz, the charging efficiencies of the proposed circuit are 172% and 28.5% higher than that of the classic standard energy-harvesting (SEH) circuit. The experimental efficiency of the PMC is 41.7% under an excitation of 0.3 g at 8 Hz. Full article

Information fusion has been a topic of immense interest owing to its applicability in various applications. This brings to the fore the need for a flexible and accurate fusion algorithm that can be versatile. The Brooks–Iyengar algorithm is one such fusion algorithm. It has since its inception found numerous applications that deal with the fusion of data from multiple sources. The uniqueness of the Brooks–Iyengar algorithm is the ease with which the data from multiple sensors in a local system can be fused and also reach consensus in a distributed system with the added capability of fault tolerance. Blockchain has found its use as a distributed ledger and has successfully supported and fueled many crypto-currencies over the years. Information fusion with regards to Blockchains is a topic of great research interest in the past couple of years. Since blockchain has no official node, the introduction of a decentralized network and a consensus algorithm is required in making the interactions and exchanges between multiple suppliers easier and thus leads to business being carried out without any hassles. In this paper, we attempt to understand and describe the deployment of multiple sensors to measure various aspects of the physical world. We discuss a novel technique of employing the Brooks–Iyengar algorithm in the design of the system that would decentralize the data source from the corresponding measurements and thus ensure the integrity of the transactions in the Blockchain. Finally, a theoretical analysis of the performance of the algorithm when used in a blockchain based decentralized environment is also discussed. Full article

The Internet of Things (IoT) is an emerging paradigm branded by heterogeneous technologies composed of smart ubiquitous objects that are seamlessly connected to the Internet. These objects are deployed as Low power and Lossy Networks (LLN) to provide innovative services in various application domains such as smart cities, smart health, and smart communities. The LLN is a form of a network where the interconnected devices are highly resource-constrained (i.e., power, memory, and processing) and characterized by high loss rates, low data rates, and instability in the communication links. Additionally, IoT devices produce a massive amount of confidential and security-sensitive data. Various cryptographic-based techniques exist that can effectively cope with security attacks but are not suitable for IoT as they incur high consumption of resources (i.e., memory, storage and processing). One way to address this problem is by offloading the additional security-related operations to a more resourceful entity such as a fog-based node. Generally, fog computing enables security and analysis of latency-sensitive data directly at the network’s edge. This paper proposes a novel Fog Security Service (FSS) to provide end-to-end security at the fog layer for IoT devices using two well-established cryptographic schemes, identity-based encryption, and identity-based signature. The FSS provides security services such as authentication, confidentiality, and non-repudiation. The proposed architecture would be implemented and evaluated in an OPNET simulator using a single network topology with different traffic loads. The FSS performed better when compared with the APaaS and the legacy method. Full article

Designing Internet of Things (IoT) applications faces many challenges including security, massive traffic, high availability, high reliability and energy constraints. Recent distributed computing paradigms, such as Fog and multi-access edge computing (MEC), software-defined networking (SDN), network virtualization and blockchain can be exploited in IoT networks, either combined or individually, to overcome the aforementioned challenges while maintaining system performance. In this paper, we present a framework for IoT that employs an edge computing layer of Fog nodes controlled and managed by an SDN network to achieve high reliability and availability for latency-sensitive IoT applications. The SDN network is equipped with distributed controllers and distributed resource constrained OpenFlow switches. Blockchain is used to ensure decentralization in a trustful manner. Additionally, a data offloading algorithm is developed to allocate various processing and computing tasks to the OpenFlow switches based on their current workload. Moreover, a traffic model is proposed to model and analyze the traffic indifferent parts of the network. The proposed algorithm is evaluated in simulation and in a testbed. Experimental results show that the proposed framework achieves higher efficiency in terms of latency and resource utilization. Full article

Industrial Control Systems (ICSs) are responsible for the automation of different processes and the overall control of systems that include highly sensitive potential targets such as nuclear facilities, energy-distribution, water-supply, and mass-transit systems. Given the increased complexity and rapid evolvement of their threat landscape, and the fact that these systems form part of the Critical National infrastructure (CNI), makes them an emerging domain of conflict, terrorist attacks, and a playground for cyberexploitation. Existing layered-defence approaches are increasingly criticised for their inability to adequately protect against resourceful and persistent adversaries. It is therefore essential that emerging techniques, such as orthogonality, be combined with existing security strategies to leverage defence advantages against adaptive and often asymmetrical attack vectors. The concept of orthogonality is relatively new and unexplored in an ICS environment and consists of having assurance control as well as functional control at each layer. Our work seeks to partially articulate a framework where multiple functional and assurance controls are introduced at each layer of ICS architectural design to further enhance security while maintaining critical real-time transfer of command and control traffic. Full article

Sensors and intelligent applications enabling smart vehicular traffic create an opportunity for improving the welfare of people, from the viewpoints of efficiency, sustainability, and social inclusivity. Like the opportunities, challenges of such an endeavour are multifaceted, including the scalable collection and processing of the hefty data volumes generated by sensors, and the coordinated operation between selfish agents. The purpose of this work is to survey recent literature with an emphasis on applications and a multidisciplinary eye, with the aim of stimulating discussion and reflection in the scientific communities. The principal application areas of smart traffic and smart mobility are discussed, synthesizing different perspectives. Many intriguing areas for future research exist besides those relative to connectivity, data fusion, and privacy. Some research challenges pertinent to sustainability, insurance, simulation and the handling of ambiguous information are highlighted. Full article

Various technologies and standards for the Internet of Things (IoT) have defined the way devices should interact with each other to provide an intelligent IoT service to users in an efficient manner. Although the usability of system interface between the platform and users is one of the key factors for the success of IoT ecosystems, the manner in which IoT platforms should interact with users has not been well studied. Current IoT platforms provide a simple list-based interface to manage devices, which result in the degradation of their usability as the number of devices increases. In this paper, we propose an interactive web-based IoT management system where deep object detection techniques are adopted to facilitate user’s device selection and management. The proposed system automatically recognizes the device type from video streams and accordingly generates smart controllers. The users can choose a device by touching an object in the video stream and use a smart controller to control the selected device. Finally, we show the feasibility of the proposed system through the implementation of a prototype which demonstrates a set of user scenarios. Full article

In a distributed system, a common time reference allows each component to associate the same timestamp to events that occur simultaneously. It is a design option with benefits and drawbacks since it simplifies and makes more efficient a number of functions, but requires additional resources and control to keep component clocks synchronized. In this paper, we quantify how much power is spent to implement such a function, which helps to solve the dilemma in a system of low-power sensors. To find widely applicable results, the formal model used in our investigation is agnostic of the communication pattern that components use to synchronize their clocks, and focuses on the scheduling of clock synchronization operations needed to correct clock drift. This model helps us to discover that the dynamic calibration of clock drift significantly reduces power consumption. We derive an optimal algorithm to keep a software defined clock (SDCk) synchronized with the reference, and we find that its effectiveness is strongly influenced by hardware clock quality. To demonstrate the soundness of formal statements, we introduce a proof of concept. For its implementation, we privilege low-cost components and standard protocols, and we use it to find that the power needed to keep a clock within 200 $\mathrm{ms}$ from UTC (Universal Time Coordinate) as on the order of 10⁻⁵ $\mathrm{W}$ . The prototype is fully documented and reproducible. Full article

To provide accurate activity recognition within a smart environment, visible spectrum cameras can be used as data capture devices in solution applications. Privacy, however, is a significant concern with regards to monitoring in a smart environment, particularly with visible spectrum cameras. Their use, therefore, may not be ideal. The need for accurate activity recognition is still required and so an unobtrusive approach is addressed in this research highlighting the use of a thermopile infrared sensor as the sole means of data collection. Image frames of the monitored scene are acquired from a thermopile infrared sensor that only highlights sources of heat, for example, a person. The recorded frames feature no discernable characteristics of people; hence privacy concerns can successfully be alleviated. To demonstrate how thermopile infrared sensors can be used for this task, an experiment was conducted to capture almost 600 thermal frames of a person performing four single component activities. The person’s position within a room, along with the action being performed, is used to appropriately predict the activity. The results demonstrated that high accuracy levels, 91.47%, for activity recognition can be obtained using only thermopile infrared sensors. Full article

The Quantum Double Delta Swarm (QDDS) Algorithm is a networked, fully-connected novel metaheuristic optimization algorithm inspired by the convergence mechanism to the center of potential generated within a single well of a spatially colocated double–delta well setup. It mimics the wave nature of candidate positions in solution spaces and draws upon quantum mechanical interpretations much like other quantum-inspired computational intelligence paradigms. In this work, we introduce a Chebyshev map driven chaotic perturbation in the optimization phase of the algorithm to diversify weights placed on contemporary and historical, socially-optimal agents’ solutions. We follow this up with a characterization of solution quality on a suite of 23 single–objective functions and carry out a comparative analysis with eight other related nature–inspired approaches. By comparing solution quality and successful runs over dynamic solution ranges, insights about the nature of convergence are obtained. A two-tailed t-test establishes the statistical significance of the solution data whereas Cohen’s d and Hedge’s g values provide a measure of effect sizes. We trace the trajectory of the fittest pseudo-agent over all iterations to comment on the dynamics of the system and prove that the proposed algorithm is theoretically globally convergent under the assumptions adopted for proofs of other closely-related random search algorithms. Full article

Nowadays, the penetration of sensors and actuators in different application fields is revolutionizing all aspects of our daily life. One of the major sectors that is taking advantage of such cutting-edge cheap smart devices is healthcare. In this context, Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM) at home represents a tempting opportunity for hospitals to reduce clinical costs and to improve the quality of life of both patients and their families. It allows patients to be monitored remotely by means networks of Internet of Things (IoT) medical devices equipped with sensors and actuators that collect healthcare data from patients and send them to a Cloud-based Hospital Information System (HIS) for processing. Up to now, many different proprietary software systems have been developed as stand-along expensive solutions, presenting interoperability, extensibility, and scalability issues. In recent years, the European Commission (EC) has promoted the wide adoption of FIWARE technology, launching 16 Industrial Accelerators focusing on different application fields. One of these, i.e., FICHe, is specialized in healthcare, providing the guidelines on how to develop eHealth systems. This paper focuses on how to compose new cutting-edge IoT and Cloud-based Cyber Physical Health Sytem (CPHS) services and applications interconnected with remote medical sensors and actuators using FIWARE technology in the context envisioned by FICHe. In particular, we discuss the design and development of an RPM system implemented through the collaboration between the Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico (IRCCS) “Bonino Pulejo” (i.e., a clinical and research healthcare centre specialized in the treatment of neuro lesions), University of Messina, IBM Research, Telefónica, and the University of the Western Cape in South Africa. The description of our best practice provides a model and guidelines for the development of lightweight and low cost RPM services for rural and isolated areas, with the expectation of expanding healthcare to the developing world and in general allows us to outline how to deal with the real adoption of the FIWARE technology in an e-health project. Full article

Enabling haptic communication as well as voice and data over the future 5G cellular system has become a demand. Tactile Internet is one of the main use cases of the 5G system that will allow the transfer of haptic communications in real time. Latency, availability, reliability, and security are the main design challenges of the tactile Internet system and haptic based bilateral teleoperation systems. An end-to-end latency of 1 ms remains the main challenge toward tactile Internet system realization, not only for the processing and coding delays but mainly for the limitations of light. In this work, we analyze the key solutions to overcome the light limitations and enable the tactile Internet over any distances with the required latency. Building a virtual model or model mediated for the remote environment at the edge cloud unit near to the end user is the main solution. By means of AI, the virtual model can predict the behavior of the remote environment and thus, the end user can interact with the virtual environment with a high system experience. This literature review covers the existing work of the model mediated bilateral teleoperated systems and discusses its availability for the tactile Internet system. Furthermore, the security issues of tactile Internet system and the effect of model mediated system on the required security level of tactile Internet applications are discussed. Finally, a structure for the tactile Internet system, with the deployment of model mediation, is suggested. Full article

With the increase of population density and the rural exodus to cities, urbanization is assuming extreme proportions and presents a tremendous urban problem related to waste generation. The increase of waste generation has been considered a significant challenge to large urban centers worldwide and represents a critical issue for countries with accelerated population growth in cities. The Internet of Things (IoT) and cloud computing offer an automation possibility through cyberphysical systems that will change the way solid waste management is performed. Considering IoT requirements, a review analysis of waste management models available in the literature is performed in detail in this paper. Then, a deep review is undertaken of the related literature based on IoT infrastructure for efficient handling of waste generated in urban scenarios, focusing on the interaction among concessionaires and waste generators (citizens) from the perspective of a shorter collection time with reduced costs, as well as citizenship promotion. An IoT-based reference model is described, and a comparison analysis of the available solutions is presented, with the goal to highlight the most relevant approaches and identify open research issues on the topic. Full article

By nature, some jobs are always in closed environments and employees may stay for long periods. This is the case for many professional activities such as military watch tours of borders, civilian buildings and facilities that need efficient control processes. The role assigned to personnel in such environments is usually sensitive and of high importance, especially in terms of security and protection. With this in mind, we proposed in our research a novel approach using multi-sensor technology to monitor many safety and security parameters including the health status of indoor workers, such as those in watchtowers and at guard posts. In addition, the data gathered for those employees (heart rate, temperature, eye movement, human motion, etc.) combined with the room’s sensor data (temperature, oxygen ratio, toxic gases, air quality, etc.) were saved by appropriate cloud services, which ensured easy access to the data without ignoring the privacy protection aspect of such critical material. This information can be used later by specialists to monitor the evolution of the worker’s health status as well as its cost-effectiveness, which gives the possibility to improve productivity in the workplace and general employee health. Full article

In the last decade, video surveillance systems have become more and more popular. Thanks to a decrease in price of video camera devices and the diffusion of cheap small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), video monitoring is today adopted in a wide range of application cases, from road traffic control to precision agriculture. This leads to capture a great amount of visual material to be monitored and screened for event detection. However, information that is gathered from a platform of video monitoring UAVs may produce high-volume data, whose processing is unfeasible to be done locally by the same UAVs that perform monitoring. Moreover, because of the limited bandwidth of wireless links connecting UAVs to computing infrastructures that are installed on ground, offloading these data to edge clouds renders these platforms infeasible for video analysis applications with low-latency requirements. The target of this paper is to extend a 5G network slice for video monitoring with a Flying Ad-hoc NETwork (FANET) constituted by UAVs with multi-access edge computing (MEC) facilities (MEC UAVs), flying very close to the layer of UAVs monitoring the area of interest. A policy for mutual help among MEC UAVS is defined in order to increase the performance of the whole aerial MEC platform, so further reducing end-to-end latency between sources and actuators, and increasing system reliability. A use case is considered for a numerical analysis of the proposed platform. Full article

This paper proposes a monitoring system retro-fittable for existing Intravenous (IV) infusion setup. Traditionally, doctors and nurses use their experience to estimate the time required by an IV bottle to empty which makes the IV therapy vulnerable to human error. The current study proposes an internet connected monitoring platform for IV drip chambers. The device enables doctors and nursing staff to monitor the drip parameters wirelessly while emphasizing on low costs and high degree of reliability. It has two main units, namely chamber unit and pole unit. Chamber unit houses two types of sensors, optical based for drop detection and capacitive based for level detection, both of which are placed on the chamber unit. The pole unit majorly consists of a microcontroller and a GSM-based (Global System Mobile Communication) communication module. In addition, the device was tested along with various parameters like accuracy, readout stability, change in fluid used, changes in ambient conditions, end chamber conditions, optical unit malfunctions. Finally, the monitored data was securely and reliably transmitted to commercial cloud service using HTTP API calls (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol) (Application Programming Interface). This data was stored and visualized for ease of readability for nurses and doctors. Full article

This paper offers a review of different types of Error Correction Scheme (ECS) used in communication systems in general, which is followed by a summary of the IEEE standard for Wireless Body Area Network (WBAN). The possible types of channels and network models for WBAN are presented that are crucial to the design and implementation of ECS. Following that, a literature review on the proposed ECSs for WBAN is conducted based on different aspects. One aspect of the review is to examine what type of parameters are considered during the research work. The second aspect of the review is to analyse how the reliability is measured and whether the research works consider the different types of reliability and delay requirement for different data types or not. The review indicates that the current literatures do not utilize the constraints that are faced by WBAN nodes during ECS design. Subsequently, we put forward future research challenges and opportunities on ECS design and the implementation for WBAN when considering computational complexity and the energy-constrained nature of nodes. Full article